Friday Bake-Off: Chewy Cherry-Walnut Granola Bars

These granola bars are intense, chewy, and full of good things: dried cherries, walnuts, oats and sunflower seed butter. I've had these bookmarked at Smitten Kitchen for a while now and finally decided to make them after a hectic morning when I found myself impatiently waiting for my kids to slurp soggy cereal before heading off to school. The grab-and-go ease of Deb's granola bars is only one of their many virtues.

Most Popular

First I had to go out and buy some quick oats, which make gluey oatmeal but wonderful granola bars. I mixed 1 2/3 cups with 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 cup dried cherries and 1 cup chopped walnuts. (Next time I think I'll do 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup cashews instead of the cherries and walnuts.) I put 1/3 cup quick oats in my blender and mixed until powdered and added that to the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl I mixed 6 tablespoons melted butter, 1/4 cup honey, 2 tablespoons light corn syrup and 1 tablespoon water. I poured that into the dry ingredients and mixed, then added 1/3 cup sunflower seed butter. (You could use any kind of nut or seed butter.)

I lined an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with parchment, letting the parchment extend above the sides of the pan on two sides. I sprayed the pan and parchment with cooking spray, then pressed the granola bar mixture evenly into the pan with my hands. I baked at 350F for 30 minutes, until the top was starting to brown. Let the granola bars cool completely before cutting, otherwise they crumble.